The league Top 20 prospect lists continue to roll out over at Baseball America. This morning the Midwest League Top 20 list went live and the Cincinnati Reds were represented by two players on the list.
Hunter Greene and Jeter Downs both found themselves on the list and inside of the Top 10 rankings. They were the only two Dayton Dragons players that made the list. The Midwest League isn’t always an easy league to land multiple prospects on, as the league has 16 teams in it.
Hunter Greene came in fifth overall on the list. After a slow start in the first six weeks, Greene turned things around in mid-May and dominated the rest of the season until he was injured in late July. Over his final 13 starts he posted a 2.91 ERA with 13 walks and 71 strikeouts in 58.2 innings . On the season as a whole his ERA was 4.48 in 58.1 innings with 23 walks and 89 strikeouts. That all came before he suffered a tear in his UCL in his pitching elbow. He was shut down and will be rehabbing the elbow during the offseason with the hopes that he can pitch in the 2019 season rather than having to have Tommy John surgery.
Jeter Downs was the eighth ranked player on the list put together by votes from the managers around the league. He split time defensively at both second base and shortstop, though that split was about 65-35 at second base. At the plate he hit .257/.351/.402 on the year with 23 doubles, 2 triples, and 13 home runs. He also stole 37 bases in 47 attempts. Depending on who you ask you will get different opinions on where he winds up defensively, though the majority of people I spoke to think that second base is his future defensive home. There are a few that believe he can handle shortstop, though.
With the Midwest League being 16-teams deep, it’s not too surprising that only two players made the list. Stuart Fairchld performed well in the first half before being promoted to Daytona. Hendrik Clementina showed off big power at a premium defensive position. But in a deep league, those two probably didn’t get too much consideration. Perhaps in a league that had a few less teams they could have gotten a bit more recognition.